A wide range of materials (e.g., carbon, copper, plastic, dirt, snow, mud, soot) inevitably accumulate over time within the barrel of a firearm, and the presence of such materials can moderately to severely compromise the efficacy of a firearm absent proper periodic cleaning of its barrel. For example, the short term build-up of materials within a firearm barrel can undesirably delay the release time of a bullet or other form of ammunition fired from the firearm. Also, materials that remain within a firearm's barrel for a prolonged period of time can cause corrosion or other significant degradation of the firearm's components, thus potentially necessitating expensive repair or replacement of the firearm.
Although the design of firearm cleaning devices has varied over time, they tend to fall into one of two general design categories: rigid devices (as described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,376 to Schnitger, U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,302 to Lewis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,609 to Dubs, U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,975 to Rambo et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,236 to Solberg et al.) and flexible devices (as described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,627 to Malesky, U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,589 to Hedge, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,034 to Schnell). Despite differences in their design, firearm barrel cleaning devices are generally used in similar ways, namely by being inserted within the firearm to loosen or dislodge (e.g., by one or more of brushing, scraping and/or rinsing actions) unwanted materials from within the barrel. The dislodged materials are then removed from the barrel by the cleaning device itself, or through the use of one or more additional devices.
Unfortunately, most known firearm cleaning devices, whether rigid or flexible, have been plagued by one or more drawbacks, including difficulty of use and/or transport, lack of versatility (i.e., inability to clean a wide array of firearms), and inefficacy. The inefficacy problem in particular has become more pronounced as the size, shape, caliber and action of firearms has continued to change and evolve over time. Many traditional firearm barrel cleaning devices cannot satisfactorily clean the barrel of newer, more sophisticated firearms, especially military issue weapons such as the so-called 40 mm series. Consequently, the only current option for effectively and reliably cleaning such firearms may be disassembly and reassembly, which collectively can take several hours. That is an unacceptable time frame under any circumstances, but can be even more problematic, if not life-threatening, within the traditional contexts in which such weapons are used.
Therefore, a need exists for a firearm cleaning device that is easy to use and transport, and that can reliably and effectively clean a wide range of firearm barrels, including those of military issue firearms.